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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29148321">a bunch of rhys/zane oneshots</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/borderlandsguy69/pseuds/borderlandsguy69'>borderlandsguy69</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Borderlands (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:55:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,501</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29148321</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/borderlandsguy69/pseuds/borderlandsguy69</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mostly fluff, all things I'm too embarrassed to share on an account with my actual username<br/>It was wild to see that more than just me have written Rhane stuff but whoops all p r o n<br/>A lot of this is like weird cope stuff or based on prompts and stuff, so I'm sorry if it's written weirdly or kinda ooc because I've frankly strayed so far in my head they're like hardly related to the source material but I TRY</p><p>also YES i know canonically there's not a small age gap but like in most of these i put them within 10 years of each other (Rhys is usally mid/late thirties and Zane is usually mid/late forties in my hc) and either way they're both adults so frick it :')</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Zane Flynt/Rhys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. human touch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The shower stopped running. Rhys tried to pay no mind to it, to focus on the TV, but the interruption of the background white noise was distracting enough to get his attention away from the trash that was on the screen in front of him. He sighed and shut it off, plunging the penthouse apartment into silence. Most of the lights were off, save the kitchen light, which dimly illuminated the living room space, casting long shadows across the floor. Rhys turned his attention to the window, a gorgeous view of the Meridian laid out in front of him, sprawling towers with neon lights that glowed brightly against the sky. How lucky was he, that this was pretty much… his. With a few exceptions. A lot of hard work had brought him here but… He wasn’t entirely sure he deserved it all. His eyes lingered on the innumerable and distinct skyscrapers that were just so Promethea.<br/>
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped a little bit.<br/>
“Ah, sorry for the start,” laughed Zane. Rhys glanced up and laughed a little himself. He returned his eyes to the skyline, leaning into the other’s gentle touch. A moment of comfortable silence bloomed between the two, before Zane climbed over the back of the couch and laid down, resting his head on Rhys’ lap. Reflexively, Rhys moved his hand to run his fingers through Zane’s damp hair. He kept his eyes fixated on the skyline, until he felt Zane reach up and trace his finger along the tattoo that Rhys usually hid rather deliberately under his shirts.<br/>
“I don’t think I’ve really seen the full thing yet,” Zane mused as he continued to draw along the curved edge that peaked at Rhys’ collarbone. Rhys looked down, head tilted, tracing the lines of Zane’s face with his eyes, before settling on eye contact.<br/>
“Go ahead.” Zane raised an eyebrow momentarily, before moving his hand to the still-done up buttons on Rhys’ dress shirt, undoing them one-handed with a bit of fumbling. He got most of the way, before Rhys finished unbuttoning where Zane couldn't quite reach from his position and took off the shirt fully. At this point, Zane sat up and turned himself to look at Rhys, who, feeling slightly awkward, felt his face turn a bit warm. As if sensing this, Zane turned his eyes back up towards Rhys’, grabbed his hand, and kissed him - Gently, reassuring. And he didn’t lean back after their lips detached, leaning his forehead against Rhys’ and scooting forwards, so he could more easily move his hands across Rhys’ exposed torso instead of viewing it like a spectacle. And slowly, he did, finding every raised scar and every touchable mark left on Rhys’ skin over the years, massaging out knots in his shoulders, just taking in his partner’s body, eyes shut. Rhys leaned into the caress, hearing his calm breaths falling in line with Zane’s. He moved his head away from Zane’s forehead and bent over to lean it on his shoulder, bringing his arms forwards and wrapping them around Zane’s back, getting as close as possible to him.<br/>
Then, Zane moved his hands down to Rhys’ waist, and, with a little bit of effort, leaned the two of them backwards until Rhys was laying on top of Zane, head resting on his chest. Rhys shut his eyes, there, tangled up with him, laying down on the couch, listening to his steady heartbeat amongst the silence, and slowly fell asleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Nailed It</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rhys gets a coffee.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Note; Since Lorelei in-game has an echo talking about transition, i refer to them as 'Lars' and use He/They pronouns, which is a hc of mine ok thank you<br/>Also yes I am terrible at writing dialogue but you know what it's fun so I don't even care</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rhys walked into the coffee shop. He was early, compared to when he usually left the house, and the morning rush hadn't yes started. There was some music that Rhys had heard a thousand times playing in the background, and it blended into the normal ambiance of the coffee shop, a familiar sound that punctuated Rhys' mornings. He paused a moment, inside the door, to check his ECHO. He had been answering e-mails and messages the whole walk here, and he was halfway through a response. As he wrote, he noticed something different about the soundscape around him - Lars' very distinctive accent didn't greet the person at the counter. It was another voice, one that Rhys recognized, but the name attached to it was just a bit beyond his grasp. He pressed send on his email and looked up, eyes landing on the person working. The name clicked into his mind, mostly because he hadn't really been able to get it out of his mind in the first place, and his heart rate instantly rose by at least ten BPM.<br/>
Taking a deep breath for the nerves, Rhys approached the counter.</p><p>"Hi," he said, barely managing to get the syllable out. Pathetic. Learn to talk to hot people you very cool moron, was his immediate thought.</p><p>"Oh hey, Rhys! Been a while." Rhys could have shit himself, and he genuinely felt his heart creep up his throat, but he was cool and calm and holy shit.</p><p>"I- Yeah, yeah, it really has been," was the response. He needed to get a grip. "So you work for Lars now, hey?" Punctuated by a short laugh. That wasn't funny.</p><p>Zane laughed too, though. "Yeah. Decided I was tired of arsing around on Eden-6." Rhys relaxed a little. This was a conversation. This was Normal.</p><p>"Well, I guess I should order," Rhys said. This may be a conversation, but he had places to be. </p><p>"Only if you want," Zane replied, looking down to the register, with what Rhys interpreted as a 'friendly smile' but bordered more on a smirk, if anything.</p><p>"Aaaalright, just a coffee with cream and sugar for me then." Zane nodded, and took Rhys' money, not even needing to say the total. It was routine for Rhys. Plain-ass coffee for the mornings. Cooler shit later, when he wasn't either waking up or mostly distracted. And he knew what things cost. And he knew the drill, so when Zane went to go make his drink, Rhys walked over to the back area of the Café and looked back at his ECHO for a moment. 15 new notifications. Goddamnit. This was why he needed a receptionist, or three. He put it in his pocket. Not now.</p><p>Zane placed Rhys' coffee on the counter, and Rhys walked over. He was planning on grabbing it and half-booking it out of there, because everyone that had been in there left, and he was pretty sure he was verging on cardiac arrest with how quickly his heart was beating. A cardiac arrest would be really quite unprofessional of him and -</p><p>"Any chance I could get your number, Rhys? Keep in touch. All that," Rhys' plans were interrupted, and he must have looked like a deer in headlights for a moment because Zane laughed. Rhys, feeling his face turn hot, and trying to restore any dignity left, cleared his throat, preparing to speak, give some eloquent response, and he uttered;<br/>
"Uh, yeah, I, sure, yeah."<br/>
Fuck.<br/>
But, even though he was a fool, he fumbled his ECHO out of his pocket, and presented his contact to Zane, who wrote down the number. When he was done, he looked back up at Rhys, who had taken those seconds to mentally berate himself and try to get his breathing under control. Rhys took his coffee, putting his ECHO back in his pocket when Zane finished writing down Rhys' contact information, and walked towards the door.</p><p>"Have a good day, Rhys!" Zane cheerily called out after Rhys.</p><p>"Yeah, uh, you too," Rhys replied, turning around a little bit, seeing Zane leaning on the counter casually. Casually. He opened the door and he left, walking a few steps the wrong direction, before correcting himself. And, as he walked to work in the cool-ish Promethean morning, drinking his coffee, all he could think was 'Nailed it.' And that he did.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. people person</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rhys invites Zane to have lunch with him.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ANOTHER ONE I DIDN't PROOFREAD!! hehehe<br/>Also I know this one is super cliche but I am very tired and I just wanted to write something real quick<br/>Sorry if the writing is weird I've been reading house of leaves again and honestly it messes with my writing style so much</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zane was a people person. He had friends all over the galaxy and had probably slept with half of them, and to back him up he always had a library of things to say to just about anyone.<br/>That was, until he met Rhys.<br/>When they only had to talk professionally, it was fine, because Zane didn’t have to say much of substance. But, since he moved to the Meridian, he’d seen a lot more of Rhys in a casual setting. Honest to God, they could not stop running into each other, and every time Zane spoke with him, Zane just lost the ability to speak properly. Rhys was, admittedly, very attractive in Zane’s humble opinion, and it was frustrating. His usual game was entirely thrown off. But, with Rhys speaking enough for the both of them, he’d started to get used to it.<br/>It was a normal morning. Zane didn’t work, he was rich enough from multiple deaths in the family, his temporary occupation as a Vault Hunter, and also his career as an assassin (of course), so he usually slept in late and drank a bit too much every other night, and sometimes he’d bring someone home with him and they’d leave before the sun rose, leaving no trace. That was the way he’d liked to live, but recently it had felt so empty. Maybe he was getting old, but he felt almost like he could settle down; fall in love, for real. And, on that note, he rolled his eyes and sat up in his bed, taking a moment to stretch the sleep out of his spine and shoulders. He was definitely getting old.<br/>He had a message on his ECHO. It was from Rhys, Rhys always sent him messages - Not that Zane didn’t appreciate it. At this point, he’d quite happily consider Rhys a friend, maybe even close, and the messages were more than welcome. Usually it was stupid shite, bad jokes, a funny picture, or asking Zane if he was available, which he often was. That’s what this message was; Rhys wanted to meet for lunch. This wasn’t the first time they’d done so, they were indeed friends, but generally Rhys would also invite Lars along - He’d specified that this time it would just be the two of them. Zane checked the clock. It was around 11, maybe 11:15, so he had some time to get himself together. He got out of bed after sending a confirmation to Rhys, heading to shower and get dressed, getting himself ready to have a perfectly normal lunch with a good friend.</p><p> </p><p>	There was something about the roads of Promethea that settled whatever nonsense was brewing in his skull. A 15 minute motorcycle ride to Atlas HQ always managed to calm whatever nerves he was having and gave him a bit of time to himself, something he seemed to have a lot of but never took advantage of. He was waiting outside now, for Rhys, who was going to meet him outside and they’d head up to his office together. With food. Probably. He didn’t have to wait long, maybe three or four minutes, before Rhys emerged, looking a little bit frazzled, but mostly intact. The slightly messed up hair, and the facial hair he’d decided to keep despite Lars’ protests, and the shirt that had come slightly untucked all caught Zane’s attention, equally and at once. Zane smiled, and waved, and Rhys returned the gesture. Acknowledgement.<br/>	“So,” Rhys said, scratching the back of his left hand, avoiding eye contact.<br/>	“So.” Zane replied, folding his arms across his chest.<br/>	Rhys hesitated a moment. “To my office, then..?”<br/>	Zane shrugged. “That was the plan.”<br/>	Rhys opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but he just closed it and gestured for Zane to follow him, which he did.</p><p>	They didn’t stop for food, though they considered it. The elevator up to Rhys’ office was painfully quiet. Rhys would traditionally talk about something or other, but today he was quiet. It made Zane both more and less nervous - either Rhys had nothing to say or he had something he didn’t know how to say - and Zane wasn’t sure which option he preferred. But, judging by the way Rhys kept checking his notifications on his cybernetics, and shifting his weight from foot to foot, it was probably the latter.<br/>	The elevator reached the top, and there was still an uncomfortably tense silence. As the elevator door closed behind them, and they walked further into the office, somehow that silence only got more intense. <br/>	Zane finally broke the silence.<br/>“Rhys, is something bothering you?”<br/>Rhys cleared his throat, and furrowed his eyebrows. He was quiet when he spoke, as if he’d lost his usually confident and expressive voice. He was nervous.<br/>“I’ve… been meaning to talk to you about something,” Rhys pursed his lips, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Zane eyed him, searching his face for a clue, but he already knew.<br/>“You mean a lot to me,” Rhys managed to stutter out. “And… I think you’re very attractive,” He finished his sentence there. He looked like he was either about to cry or pass out, and, knowing Rhys, probably a bit of both. His eyes remained closed. Zane, meanwhile, felt his lungs and heart and most of his internal organs slowly crawling up his throat, which made him only more nervous - He hadn’t reacted this way to a person since he was a damn teenager. And then, in his head, he said “fuck it”, and even though his brain fought against it, Zane turned and reached out to turn Rhys’ face towards his own, who, upon feeling Zane’s calloused fingers against his jaw, snapped open his eyes, making direct eye contact and immediately starting to stumble over an apology not well thought out before his barely-English sentence was interrupted by Zane pressing his lips to the shorter man’s. Zane, despite seeming more confident than Rhys, was actively reeling, and he could barely breathe himself, but God Damn It he had to shut Rhys up before he talked himself into a coma. He wasn’t sure if he’d made the right move, because Rhys tensed up when he made contact, but quickly relaxed a little bit, even leaning in, and it was probably the clumsiest kiss Zane had ever had but it was perfect. It was perfect, because holy shit Rhys was beautiful, and he managed to find his way into Zane’s “cold and dead” heart, which was a goddamn feat all on its own. A few seconds, and they separated, Rhys reluctantly pulling his face away from Zane’s.<br/>A moment of brief relief flickered across Rhys’ face, before Zane laughed, he couldn’t help it, it was so fucking stupid and obvious, and as he lost his shit, he leaned forwards and landed his head on Rhys’ shoulder, shaking his head.<br/>“So when are you taking me out for dinner?” Zane chuckled as he drew Rhys closer into a hug, laugh trailing off. Rhys returned the hug, embracing the closeness.<br/>“How does tonight sound?”</p>
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